World News Quick Take

Agencies

NEPAL

Man bites snake to death

A man who was bitten by a cobra bit it back and killed the reptile in a tit-for-tat attack, the Annapurna Post reported yesterday. The daily said Mohamed Salmo Miya chased the snake, which bit him in his rice paddy on Tuesday, caught it and bit it until it died. “I could have killed it with a stick, but bit it with my teeth instead because I was angry,” the 55-year-old Miya, who lives in a village about 200km southeast of Kathmandu, was quoted by the daily as saying.

TONGA

NZ officer beaten to death

A New Zealand policeman died yesterday from injuries sustained after being beaten in a police cell, with two local officers among those arrested over the death, officials said. Kali Fungavaka, who reportedly had won an award for bravery in 2006, had traveled to the Pacific nation for a funeral and was arrested for “minor drunkenness” on Saturday morning, local police said. Fungavaka was assaulted by another prisoner in the cell and suffered head injuries, with medics turning off life support late yesterday, they said, adding that investigations into his death were continuing.

SYRIA

Army storms Damascus

Government forces backed by tanks stormed Daraya, on the outskirts of Damascus, yesterday after 24 hours of artillery and helicopter bombardment to drive out rebels, opposition sources said. The bombardment killed at least 15 people and wounded 150 in Daraya, the sources said. Troops were conducting house-to-house raids in the conservative Sunni Muslim town and making their way to the town’s center, meeting light resistance from rebels who appear to have largely withdrawn from the area, activists in Damascus said. Other activists said the army was also shelling parts of the suburb from Qasioun, which overlooks Damascus, and from Republican Guard barracks situated near a hilltop presidential palace.

SOUTH AFRICA

Women need training: Zuma

President Jacob Zuma has provoked anger by claiming that it is “not right” for women to be single and that children are important to give them “extra training.” Zuma has a history of making controversial remarks about gender and sexuality. His latest gaffe came in a TV interview in which he discussed his daughter’s marriage. “Kids are important to a woman because they actually give an extra training to a woman, to be a mother,” he told SABC3. The comments, made during women’s month, have generated anger. Kubi Rama, chief of operations at the nongovernmental organization Gender Links, said: “It raises serious questions about his commitment to equality.”

ISRAEL

Donkeys outfitted with Wi-Fi

Call it back to the future: An attraction meant to immerse tourists in a biblical experience has outfitted its donkeys with wireless routers. At the historical park of Kfar Kedem, visitors dressed in biblical robes and headdresses ride donkeys through the rolling hills of the Galilee, learning how people lived in Old Testament times. However, they can also surf the Web while touring the land of the Bible on one of the oldest forms of transportation. The device slung around the donkey’s neck like a feedbag is actually a Wi-Fi router. Park manager Menachem Goldberg said on Wednesday he hoped the melding of old and new would connect the younger generation to ancient Galilee life — while allowing them to share, tweet and snap the experience instantly to friends.